Vilnius Restaurants

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The Trattoria Da Antonio is a sister restaurant of the Restaurant Da Antonio, which opened in 1999 in the street Vilniaus gatve.

One evening we went to the Trattoria for dinner and sat down at one of the tables on the wooden outdoor terrace. These tables are just perfect for people watching in the pedestrianised street Pillies gatve.

The interior of the Trattoria is kept simple, but homely. Red white checkered table cloth seem to be a typical detail of the place.

The menu offers a wide range of pizzas as well as delicious pasta and meat meals. I opted for the Pizza Salami and a big Svyturys beer. I was more than happy with my dinner, which came to 22,90 Litas (about 6,90 Euro; 2006). I especially enjoyed people watching.

UPDATE 2011:
During our second visit to Vilnius in August 2011 we realised that the Trattoria Da Antonio has closed down, but two restaurants of the Da Antonio chain still exist in Vilnius. One at Vilniaus gatve 23 and one at L.Stuokos-Guceviciaus gatve 1.

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On our first evening in Vilnius in August 2006 we were quite hungry as we had had a busy day involving a long bus ride and had been settling into our B&B accomodation.

One of the first Lithuanian restaurants that drew our attention was Restaurant Zemaiciai, which due to its central location probably is a bit touristy. They have a little outdoor terrace on the pavement and the interior is an underground network of ancient catacombs.

The menu offers many traditional Lithuanian dishes as well as international cuisine. I ordered roast pork on a spit with boiled rice and my friend opted for the borscht with meat off the bone and a hot boiled potato. Borscht is a traditional East European beetroot soup.

The meals were delicious, but service was a bit slow. The bill was 46,50 Litas (about 14 Euro, 2006) and included two drinks. This is still cheap for west European standards but already a bit on the pricey side in Vilnius.

Restaurant is located in the most touristy street in Vilnius old town. Food is a mix of local/international/ beer kitchen menu so the selection can be quite messy. Has great Lithuanian beer selection. Aula also organize live (usually free) music concerts. So people who like jazz or blues should check its program.

Favorite Dish: try dishes that includes beer, for example beer soup or ice cream with beer caramel. Its at least something new and tastes good

My sister actually went here,but she liked it so much,that I desiced to tell all of you.They said that it is really good and "real"Indian.Even they felt it very hot-and I can tell you,that they like hot.But for people loving hot,it is a good place.I´m sure that I will visit this too,if I will go Vilinus again.I love Indian.This was like"a fine dining place",but still prices were cheap at least for Finns.

http://www.suesindianrestaurants.com/ENG/cadre.htm

Favorite Dish: Sister told that she liked the lamb there.But all was good,and they said they would have wanted to eat so many times here,that they ran out of time.

High-class restaurant,but cheap for that.This is again heard from my sister.It was listed for top-restaurants of town.They had very friendly service,and they ate 3 dish menu,(own choises,not tourist-menu)and drank a bottle of wine,had 2 espressos and 2 sambuca-drinks,and it was all together 60e!Place was very nice,looked like Scandinavian decoration,nothin glittering or so.Small tables with candles,so maybe good for romantic dinner,too.

Favorite Dish: My sister ate thai-style chicken soup,and chicken with herbs,and her husband took pasta with meetballs,made very good-even if not something very different.

We were 7 people in this chinese place located in the fancy shopping mall "Gedimino 9" on one of the main streets of Vilnius. The restaurant still miss the spirit as it's new place but they have cosy little some kind of parlours that separates people from the rest of restaurant.

The waiter was rather shy and young girl that did not look very self confident but I guess it was fine. We ordered quite many different dishes and she said it would take about 15-20 min to get them all. She quicly brought Sicuan soup (speciality dish of the restaurant) for two of us and the rest had to wait for their soups for about 15 min. Then we 4 finally got our own soups (chicken and mushrooms soup), ate them (was average taste), while others had to wait for their second courses.. and then again we got it all not together. So while ones were finished eating, others were still on hurry to eat..

The food is not so bad there, not anything special either so if you have plenty of time to wait for your food, then it's the place for you.

Working hours:

I - IV 11-22
V - VI 11-23
VII 11-22

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I'd never been to a Kazakh restaurant prior to my visit here but, after seeing it advertised in the guidebook, we decided to give Cingischanas a try.

We managed to locate the restaurant on Basanaviciaus gatve (a street that branches off from Pylimo gatve) and entered through the grand copper-plated entrance. The upstairs of the restaurant was empty, but a dozen or so tables were set and there were a handful of waiters to greet us.

One of the waiters took us downstairs where there were a handful of tables in a room that is decorated in what I assume is traditional Kazakh style. Rugs, shields and other artefacts adorn the walls.

We were presented with a menu (in Lithuanian, Russian and English) containing a large selection of food and drink.

The starters contain various salads and numerous different soups. I had chicken shorra, a kind of spicy chicken soup (with the chicken still on the bone).

Main courses include a great many kebab dishes as well as other grilled meat dishes and pilaf rice dishes. I opted for the Uzbek pilaf (see below).

Desserts include ice cream and various cakes. I opted for Baursaki (a huge plate of doughnut balls).

The food was well cooked, tasty and served in large portions and the service was friendly and efficient.

Favorite Dish: You can find an online menu (in Lithuanian, Russian and English) at www.cingischanas.lt.

I had the following:

Starter: Chicken Shorra

Chicken broth with greenery, red hot chilly pepper and aromas of saffron and red plum.
Cost: 9Lt

Main: Uzbek pilaf

Colorful dish made of basmati rice and fried meat. All ingredients are fried on a sunflower oil with eastern spices and some dry fruits.
Cost: 18Lt

Dessert: Baursaki

Dough balls (doughnuts without hole) with sugar powder.
Cost 5Lt

Drinks

Kalnapilis beer: Cost 5Lt
Mint tea: Cost 2.50 Lt

Good quality Kazakh food at reasonable prices. Recommended.

I did find two Chinese restaurant in Vilnius one on Pilies gatve (Castle Street) and the second one on the most representative street of Vilnius Gedemino prospektas. The second one was called Auksinis Feniksas which meant Golden Phoenix in Lithuanian language .

Excuse, I didn't eat there. Instead I studied their menu. They offered typical chinese dishes but the prices were high as for Vilnius (approx. 25 - 30 Lt per dish). Hmm... Chinese food was still expensive in Vilnius in 2004 like it was in Poland in early 90'. Will it change soon?
Maybe that's why this restaurant was almost empty in the early afternoon although it was good place to watch people. Hmm... didn't members of nearby Lithuanian parliament eat there?

Favorite Dish: I would try beef or chicken in vegetables (+ Chinese mushrooms necessarily) or... more risky duck. Whenever I want to test skills of a cook in a Chinese restaurant I order just duck. It's not so easy to make duck meat delicious. I tried it by myself twice :-) and I ate not delicious ducks in some Chinese restaurants.